Mark Hughes on why Bradford City's frustrating draw with Doncaster Rovers will provide an invaluable lesson

BRADFORD CITY manager Mark Hughes has acknowledged that his Bantams side need to be smarter in aspects of their attacking play, but is confident that they will learn positive lessons from their derby stalemate with Doncaster Rovers.

Saturday proved an exercise in frustration for City in their League Two opener, particularly in the second half when Rovers, a man light following the dismissal of Lee Tomlin for two bookable offences ahead of the half-time whistle, beat a retreat and dropped deep and got two banks of four behind the ball to protect their goal.

Hughes was also critical of Rovers' tactics in running down the clock. But he did accept that City did not help themselves by a lack of quality in their final decision-making.

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He said: “It wasn’t easy, we tried to work the ball into wider positions. My one criticism would have been about their technique at times.

Bradford City boss Mark Hughes watches his side in Saturday's League Two opener with Doncaster Rovers. Picture: Bruce Rollinson.Bradford City boss Mark Hughes watches his side in Saturday's League Two opener with Doncaster Rovers. Picture: Bruce Rollinson.
Bradford City boss Mark Hughes watches his side in Saturday's League Two opener with Doncaster Rovers. Picture: Bruce Rollinson.

“We’ve had good opportunities, opened up the play, got wide and didn’t really produce the cross that was needed. If we had got in front of the game, we would have won comfortably.

“We just didn’t have enough to unpick the lock.

"If they’d kept their full complement, I think there would have been occasions when they’d committed more people forward and that’s when we would have found the space to pick them off.

“It was very difficult when they had a really low block with everyone behind the ball.

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“But that will stand us in good stead. We’ll have similar circumstances, hopefully not exactly the same.

“But there will be times when teams come and frustrate and try and make things difficult for us.

“This will allow us to think on and learn from that and what we need to do if we’re ever in that circumstance again.”

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